Bruce Jayne’s team now measured three 4.5 to 5.8 meter long animals of the species that were caught in and around Everglades National Park in the USA. The researchers report that the mouth of the largest snake could be opened 26 centimeters wide. Previously, the maximum value recorded was 22 centimeters. That doesn’t sound like a big difference, but the entire opening of the mouth is a whopping 40 percent larger. The largest representatives of the species can have a mouth around 30 centimeters in diameter, the researchers assume. The scientists observed the smallest of the three specimens examined devouring a 35-kilogram white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) – which was two-thirds of the snake’s weight. Observing something like that is unforgettable, said one of the researchers involved.
Knowing the potential size of prey helps researchers predict the ecological impact of the snake species, which is spreading invasively in the United States. What still needs to be clarified is how often the snakes attack and kill large prey, but then do not eat them because they are too big to swallow. The pythons with the technical name Python bivittatus are among the largest snakes in the world with a length of – in rare cases – over six meters. Actually native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, the species has spread extremely through abandoned animals from private keeping in the Everglades in Florida. According to official estimates, hundreds of thousands of pythons now live there and threaten the local fauna. Hunters receive cash rewards for animals they kill. In their original homeland, however, things are not good for the snakes; The species is therefore listed as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
